by Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY

by Calum MacLeod, USA TODAY

North Korea's war-hungry rhetoric will dominate discussions at a South Korean-U.S. summit in Washington this week amid a trip meant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of an alliance formed in the Korean War.

South Korean President Park Geun Hye - who took office in February just as the North stepped up its aggressive behavior with a third nuclear test - will visit the USA for discussions with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday, where Seoul's northern neighbor is likely to be the main topic.

On Wednesday, South Korea's first female leader will address a joint meeting of Congress to reinforce the U.S.-Korean partnership, one Park recently called "the most successful alliance in history" during a visit with two U.S. lawmakers.

Analysts say the Obama-Park meeting will reinforce the countries' commitment to their alliance, but also offer opportunities to discuss conditional dialogue with North Korea.

"The basic approach towards North Korea should be based on a mixture of stick and carrot," said Park Young Ho, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. "But all North Korea wants is for South Korea and the USA to give them only carrots."

At their first face-to-face talks, both Obama and Park will reiterate a policy toward the North that emphasizes a strong deterrent while holding open the door for dialogue if Pyongyang demonstrates good behavior and movement away from its nuclear-tipped present, Park Young Ho said.

"The summit gives another chance for North Korea to re-evaluate and rethink their current policy towards South Korea and the United States, but I don't think they will change their current stance," he said.

Both the USA and South Korea are lowering expectations for clear "deliverables" from Park's trip, said Scott Snyder, senior fellow for Korea Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

"They want to establish a cordial working relationship and provide assurance," he said. Obama will emphasize "the seriousness of (the) U.S. commitment to South Korean defense; President Park will focus on establishing herself as a cool-headed and able crisis manager," Snyder said.

One potentially thorny issue on the docket: A nuclear energy pact with the USA - which Seoul says is long overdue for updating - that was recently put aside for two more years, said Daniel Pinkston, a North East Asia expert for the International Crisis Group in Seoul.

Still, collaboration between Seoul and the U.S. has remained crucial. The flight of nuclear-armed B-2 bombers from the USA to South Korea grabbed headlines last month, but a quieter, equally significant example of the alliance's deterrent measures was the March 22 signing of a counter-provocation plan, Pinkston said.

U.S. and South Korean leaders "will try to mix hard words and soft words, to show North Korean provocation will not be tolerated, but dialogue is still open," said Kim Sung Han, who served as a the South's vice minister of foreign affairs and trade until March.

Despite the offers of dialogue made by Secretary of State John Kerry and South Korean ministers in recent weeks - all conditional on the North Korean regime demonstrating genuine commitment to ending its nuclear weapons program - the North's leaders "don't see anything they want," said Tong Kim, an international relations expert at Korea University in Seoul.

Tong said he doubts Tuesday's summit will bring dialogue with North Korea closer and expects the key dynamic of U.S.-South Korean policy towards North Korea to remain the same.

"Washington will support whatever approach or position Seoul takes or will take in the future," he said.